Cougars fall hard to Princeton; face C’burg Friday

Cougars fall hard to Princeton; face C’burg FridayBy MIKE WILLIAMS

Patriot Publishing

Pulaski County’s Cougars will look to rebound Friday night in Christiansburg after suffering through a 62-0 loss last week to Princeton.

For this proud Cougar football program, the loss was the worst in terms of final score in the history of Pulaski County High School football.

The old record – a 57-point shellacking at the hands of the Bluefield Beavers – was set in 1975 during the school’s second year.

There have been three other lopsided losses in Cougar football history when the home team gave up over 50 points.

Back in 1990, Danville beat the Cougars 56-13. In 2016 Salem put 56 on the Cougars in a 56-14 loss. Five years later, in 2021 the Spartans hung another big win on the Cougars – winning 55-6.

Friday’s loss was also the first shutout of the Cougars since 2013 when they lost 15-0 to Courtland in the playoffs.

The loss gives Pulaski County an 0-3 record so far this season – the first season that has happened since the Cougars opened 2011 with eight straight losses and finished 1-9.  Oddly enough, that team made it to the playoffs and lost consecutive games to Salem.

Last Friday in Dobson Stadium, the Cougars fell behind at the start as the Tigers – ranked fourth in Class AAA in West Virginia coming in – jumped in front on the strength of a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Princeton’s Brad Mossor.

Mossor was a thorn in the Cougars’ side all night, adding a 62-yard punt return for a score and two pass receptions for touchdowns – one for 82 yards and another for 39.

Princeton led 21-0 after the first quarter, 48-0 at the half and 62-0 after the third quarter during a second half that featured a running clock due to the lopsided score.

The Tigers were aided by the Cougars’ four turnovers – they lost three of four fumbles and an interception during the contest.

Princeton outgained Pulaski County 387 total yards to 148. They were aided by another 189 in return yards.

To add insult to injury, the Cougars lost starting quarterback, placekicker, punter and defensive back Bryant Nottingham on a hard tackle sending him to the sideline.

“He will not be playing this week,” said Cougar Head Coach Cam Akers.  “He sustained a concussion last week. His head hit the turf pretty hard.  He’s had some symptoms this week and we’re going to keep him out.”

Quarterback duties this week will be handled by Isaiah O’Dell, who finished up in relief last Friday.

This week the Cougars will be tested again in Christiansburg.

The Blue Demons are coming off a big 39-20 win over Cave Spring. The win evened the Blue Demons’ record at 2-2 on the season.

They are led by quarterback Izaiah Cotto who can run run the ball and sling it too. Last week against the Knights , Cotto ran for 141 yards on 10 carries and also passed for a bunch. One pass for 35 yards went for a touchdown to Jacob Evans.

Running back Xavier Joplin is another weapon for Christiansburg. He rushed last week for 189 yards on 19 carries against Cave.

“Christiansburg is an improving team from game to game,” Akers said. “I think it will be a good matchup for us. We do have some guys injured – we’ve been beat up all year.

“They run the ball well and they’re a good play-action team,” Akers said of the Blue Demons.

Friday promises to be a challenge for both teams as rain – possibly heavy at times – is expected all day prior to the game from Hurricane Helene.

Akers said Christiansburg wanted to keep the game on Friday night, although some games were changed to Thursday night.

“We got a call at 10 am – they wanted to make a decision – its homecoming or hall of fame night or whatever and they decided they wanted to stick with Friday. It’s going to be a wet sloppy night.”